(KIDNAPPED ISRAELIS) H. Res. 642:
Introduced 6/25 by Schneider (D-IL) and Weber (R-TX), “Calling for the immediate and unconditional release of the
three kidnapped teenagers held captive in the West Bank, and for other purposes.” Referred to the House
Committee on Foreign Affairs. Schneider press release
here. (Overtaken by events with the discovery of the bodies of the three teens on 6/30).

(HOUSE FY15 ForOps) HR 5013: On
6/24 the full House
Appropriations Committee marked up the House version of the FY15 State and Foreign Operations Appropriations
bill. The video of the hearing is here. Middle East
subcommittee Chair Granger’s (R-TX) statement, which touches on funding for the Middle East, is here. Text of
the committee report is available here. As no Middle
East-related amendments were adopted in committee, the analysis of the Middle East-related elements in the bill
detailed in the 6/20/14 edition of the Round-Up
remains unchanged. Notably, Schiff (D-CA) offered an amendment to reduce military to Egypt by $300 million
(leaving $1 billion in aid intact). That amendment was strongly opposed by AIPAC, which reportedly lobbied
members against it. The Schiff amendment failed by a vote of 35-11. Full reporting in Al-Monitor,
here.

Section 8069 of the bill earmarks $619,814,000 for the Israeli Cooperative Programs. Of this,
$350,972,000 is earmarked “for the Secretary of Defense to provide to the Government of Israel for the
procurement of the Iron Dome defense system to counter short-range rocket threats”; $137,934,000 is
earmarked for the Short Range Ballistic Missile Defense (SRBMD) program; $74,707,000 is earmarked for “an
upper-tier component to the Israeli Missile Defense Architecture”; and $56,201,000 is earmarked for the Arrow
System Improvement Program. As in the past, the section includes language permitting a portion of these funds
to be used, effectively, as FMF.

The Committee report notes that the funding for Iron Dome is $175 million above the President's request, and
that the remaining $268,842,000 for the Israeli Cooperative Programs is an increase of $172,039,000 above the
President's request. The report notes that with this FY15 recommendation, U.S. funding for Iron Dome will
increase to a total of more than $1,070,000.

The report also notes Committee concerns the existing agreement between Israel and the U.S. concerning
procuring/producing components in the U.S. does not cover the full amount recommended for FY15, and directs that
$175,000,000 of the funds recommended for FY15 may not be obligated or expended until a set of conditions, set out
in the Report, are met. The Committee also lays out requirements regarding any FY16 request for Iron Dome
funding.

In addition, Sec. 9013 bars funding in the bill from being used “with respect to Syria in contravention of
the War Powers Resolution (50 U.S.C. 1541 et seq.), including for the introduction of United States armed or
military forces into hostilities in Syria, into situations in Syria where imminent involvement in hostilities is
clearly indicated by the circumstances, or into Syrian territory, airspace, or waters while equipped for combat, in
contravention of the congressional consultation and reporting requirements of sections 3 and 4 of that law (50
U.S.C. 1542 and 1543).”

During floor consideration of the bill, two members offered amendments barring funding in the bill from being
used to aid the Palestinian Authority. Both amendments were adopted, notwithstanding the fact that
no U.S. funding for the PA comes from this bill.

Rep. King (R-IA) offered H. Amdt.
933, “to prohibit the use of funds to transfer weapons to the Palestinian Authority.” That amendment
was agreed to by voice vote (floor consideration here). King’s press release is
here.

Rep. Gosar (R-AZ) went even further with H. Amdt. 944, “to prohibit the use of funds
for the following entities or in contravention of Title 18 U.S.C., Section 2339B: 1) The Government Iran; 2)
The Government of Syria; 3) The Palestinian Authority; 4) Hamas; 5) The Islamic State of Iraq and
Syria.” This amendment, which lumps the PA in with two points on the Axis of Evil and two designated
Foreign Terrorist Organizations, was adopted by a roll
call vote of 280-133. Gosar’s press release is here.
Floor consideration here, including
statements opposing the amendment from Visclosky (D-IN) and Frelinghuysen (R-NJ). Carney (D-DE) and Van Hollen (D-MD) placed a statement in the
records after the vote explaining their opposition to the amendment (among other things).

In his floor statement on his amendment, Gosar (R-AZ) makes clear that the goal is to punish the
Palestinians for a unity government that he sees as an “end run” around U.S. restrictions (by making sure the
reconciliation government conforms to U.S law – a textbook example of not taking “yes” for an answer!).
With respect to the FTOs listed in his amendment, he admits that his amendment is in fact redundant, noting,
“I understand the law, and I understand that the U.S. already has laws to prevent the transfer of assistance
to these foreign terrorist organizations. It is just that I am not convinced that the President, his Attorney
General, or any other member of his Cabinet Secretaries understands the laws of this Nation the way that I do
or will follow those laws as U.S. citizens must. This is just one more attempt to double down on the letter of
the law.”

In his statement opposing the bill, Van Hollen (D-MD) notes with respect to the Gosar amendment, “This
amendment was a blatant effort to exploit fear and misunderstanding. There is no intention to provide Iran,
Syria, Hamas, or ISIS with any military assistance. I would strongly oppose any such move. However, the United
States, with the support of the State of Israel, has at times provided different forms of assistance to the
Palestinian Authority to enhance security and fight terrorism. By including the Palestinian Authority in the
list of entities that should be prohibited from receiving assistance, the amendment was an obvious example of
what is known around here as a ‘gotya’ amendment. It is time to stop playing those political games.”

(HEZBOLLAH BILL, IRAN RESOLUTION, & TURKEY RESOLUTION): On 6/26 the House Foreign Affairs
committee marked up
and passed several pieces of (relatively) noncontroversial legislation related to Iran and the Middle East.
These were: HR 4411, the “Hezbollah
International Financing Prevention Act of 2014” (introduced 4/7 by Meadows, R-NC and Schneider, D-IL); H. Res. 435, “Calling on the government of Iran to
fulfill their promises of assistance in this case of Robert Levinson, one of the longest held United States
civilians in our Nation's history”; and HR
4347, the “Turkey Christian Churches Accountability Act.” Turkey was unhappy with HR 4347, as reported in
Al-Monitor: “Turkey lashes out at Congress over Christian churches bill.” Lebanon, on the other hand, was
presumably happy to see language stripped from HR 4411 language to which Lebanese officials reported objected to
strongly, as also reported in Al-Monitor: “House gives Lebanon
a pass in Hezbollah sanctions bill.” Meadows (R-NC) press release
here. Schneider (D-IL) press release here.

2. Hearings

6/25: The
Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s Subcommittee on Near Eastern and South and Central Asian Affairs held a
hearing entitled, “Iran's Support for Terrorism in the Middle East.” Witnesses were: James Jeffrey, WINEP
(Testimony); Daniel
Byman, Brookings Institution (Testimony); Danielle
Pletka, AEI (Testimony);
and Matthew Levitt, WINEP (Testimony). Video of
the hearing is available here.

6/24: Briefing for House for Affairs Committee by senior Administration official regarding the status of the P5+1
negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program. Royce (R-CA) readout on the briefing is
here.